Thursday, February 22nd, 2024

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President Paxson discusses activism, admissions, academic freedom in Herald interview

In the interview, Paxson remained steadfast in her commitment to protecting academic freedom and free speech on campus, even in

disagreements.

Interview follows student activism on divestment, admission policies

BY OWEN DAHLKAMP AND ANISHA KUMAR UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITORS

amid student activism responding to the Israel-Palestine war, campuses reconsidering their admissions policies and concerns of academic freedom in the face of political pressure, brown and other universities face a deluge of difficult decisions with national implications.

In recent months, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’Md’20’s response to these crises has been met with scrutiny from activist groups, students, faculty and staff.

The herald sat down for an interview with Paxson to discuss her stance on activism, admissions policies and academic freedom on campus.

Paxson would “ask ACURM to fast track” divestment consideration

In early February, 19 students initiated an eight-day hunger strike aimed to compel the Corporation, the university’s highest governing body, to “hear and consider a divestment proposal” at their February meetings.

On the first day of the strike, Paxson refused to heed their demands, instead referring them to the advisory Committee on university resource Management to submit a divestment proposal for consideration. she first referred student activists with similar aims of divestment to aC ur M in d ecember following a

“Hands off Rafah” rally attracts 100

Die-in follows Israeli hostage rescue that killed at least 67 Palestinians

BY TOM LI METRO EDITOR

at 1 p.m. on Feb. 17, roughly 100 community members gathered at Memorial Park on south Main street for a “hands Off rafah” rally and die-in.

The protest, organized by the rhode Island branch of the Party for socialism and Liberation, follows the Israeli military’s Feb. 12 operation in rafah, where armed forces staged a raid to rescue two hostages. The airstrikes accompanying the raid killed at least 67 Palestinians, according to the associated Press.

The city of rafah straddles Gaza’s southern border with egypt and was designated a “safe zone” from the ongoing Israel-Palestine war. since October, which marked the official onset of the war, rafah — an area of 25 square miles — has seen an influx of 1.4 million shel-

tering Palestinians. The region faces a severe humanitarian crisis as closed borders inhibit aid deliveries and civilians seek shelter in makeshift tents.

satya Mohapatra, an organizer with PsL r.I., compared the region to “150% of the population of rhode Island squeezed into a place which is the size of Providence,” in an interview with The herald. “That’s the humanitarian crisis we’re talking about.”

some speakers denounced Israel’s expressed intent to operate offensives in rafah, calling Israeli military operations “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing.”

“an assault on rafah … will be nothing less than genocide,” said sam Weisman, an organizer with PsL r.I., in his speech to the protesting crowd. “‘Complete victory’ for Israel translates to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”

On Feb. 9, Israeli Prime Minister benjamin Netanyahu released a statement ordering military officials to draft plans to evacuate rafah in anticipation of a ground offensive, accord-

related campus sit-in.

strike organizers refused to submit a proposal to aCurM, saying that the length of time it would take for consideration is an “untenable timeline given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza.” The students created a “critical edition” of a 2020 report compiled by the advisory Committee on Corporate responsibility in Investment Practices — the predecessor of aCurM — that recommended endowment divestment from “companies which profit from human rights abuses in Palestine.”

Paxson previously refused to adhere to the report, saying that the recommendations did not meet the “requisite level of specificity in regard to divestment.”

d uring the interview, Paxson reiterated her previous position for students to submit an aCurM proposal,

and added that if they were to do so, she would “ask aCurM to fast track” the consideration process, but emphasized that she does not control the committee.

Members of the Corporation discussed the recent protests on campus in their February meetings, Paxson wrote in the meeting recap shared with the brown community on Feb. 12.

When asked to provide more details on the discussions, Paxson noted that while she couldn’t share specifics, she could summarize the Corporation’s views.

“When (Corporation members) look into student activism, they honor it,” Paxson said.

she added that discussions centered on “institutional neutrality” — the idea

360 HS to close, merge with JSEC EDUCATION

Community members rally to “save 360,” decry closure decision

BY CIARA MEYER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Feb. 6, teachers and staff at 360 high school in south Providence were informed at an emergency meeting that their school would be closed and merged under the Juanita sanchez educational Complex’s William b. Cooley sr. high school. The next day, Providence Public school district leaders shared the decision with students. That afternoon, nearly the entire student body left school and walked two miles to the school department headquarters to protest the closure.

360 high school, opened in 2015 using funds from a grant for innovative schools, currently enrolls 335 students. It is the third PPsd school permanently closing at the

end of the 2023-24 school year, alongside two elementary schools. Community members expressed anger and confusion around the announcement at the walkout on Feb. 7, a rally on Feb. 14 and then again at a school board meeting on Feb. 15. but according to Jay Wegimont, a spokesperson for the PPsd, the decision to close 360 is final. exactly what the newly merged school will look like remains to be determined, district leadership said.

Why close 360? at the Feb. 15 PPsd school board meet ing, a panel hosted by the rhode Island department of education and the PP administration presented the merger de cision and answered questions posed by board members.

“The district made a recommendation … to merge the two schools into a single school in order to maximize the opportu

1 University of California, Davis student gov’t divests from Israel

The university of California, davis passed an order that prevents any of the associated students, university of California, davis’s budget from funding any of the companies named in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, crafted by uC davis students for Justice in Palestine.

2

Eight Dartmouth students begin hunger strike calling for divestment

On Feb. 19, eight dartmouth students began a hunger strike in protest of the College’s response to the Israel-Palestine War. Protesters delivered a letter to President sian Leah beilock’s administration representative, urging them to drop charges against student protesters, recognize and protect Palestinian students, and to divest from apartheid.

3 Harvard investigates two pro-Palestine groups’ antisemetic Instagram posts

harvard university is investigating the social media posts of two pro-Palestine student groups after complaints of antisemetic imagery and tropes on the groups’ accounts have taken wind within the larger harvard community. The harvard College administrative board will investigate the matter further as the university has since said that they “condemn these posts in the strongest possible terms.”

THIS WEEKEND

Pizza e Papo Feb. 23 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.

In Conversation with Lupe Fiasco Feb. 23 1:30 p.m.

Ice Skate Away with the GBC Feb. 23 7:00 p.m.

Sandbox Percussion: Music by Brown University Composers

Feb. 23 7:30 p.m. Grant Recital Hall

African Students Association Culture Show

Feb. 24 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Tomeka Reid Quartet: Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio

Feb. 24 5:00 p.m.

Granoff Center for the Creative Arts

Sandbox Percussion: Seven Pillars Feb. 24 7:30 p.m. Grant Recital Hall

PAXSON FROM PAGE 1

that “the role of the university is to support the discussion across the broad community,” rather than support a particular viewpoint.

a ccording to Paxson, the critical version of the 2020 aCCrIP proposal, which student protestors handed out to Corporation members as they headed to their Feb. 9 meetings, is “clearly aimed at taking a position.”

“I really feel the urgency that the students are feeling. but in some ways, that urgency underscores or highlights the idea that this action is really about wanting brown to take a position,” she said. “On very contested issues where there are many different views, we don’t feel it’s appropriate for the university to take sides.” Read more at browndailyherald. com.

RALLY FROM PAGE 1

its colonial occupation of Palestine.”

ing to the New york Times. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office referred to rafah as “hamas’s last bastion” in a post on X, and Netanyahu expressed the need to enter the region in order to weaken hamas’s control.

In a conversation with Netanyahu on Feb. 11, President biden “reaffirmed his view that a military operation in rafah should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there,” according to a White house press release. Netanyahu has “vowed to forge ahead.”

While the biden administration has expressed hesitation over Israeli military offensives in rafah, Weisman claimed that “the u s and Israel have a symbiotic relationship where the u s. provides Israel with the arms funding and diplomatic support necessary to maintain

On Feb. 13, the u s senate voted to pass a $95.3 billion foreign aid package allocating $14.1 billion for Israeli defense and security weaponry. The package also includes defense funds for ukraine and Taiwan, along with $9.15 billion for humanitarian aid in Gaza, the West bank and ukraine.

Mohapatra criticized rhode Island senators Jack reed, d-r.I., and sheldon Whitehouse, d-r.I., for voting in favor of the proposal.

“There is blood on american politicians’ hands,” he said. “They’re on board with greenlighting the genocide.”

“senator reed appreciates the activism of those who speak out on key issues like this,” Chip unruh, senator reed’s communications director, wrote in an email to The herald. “senator reed has called for the secure release of hostages in tandem with a restored mutual ceasefire in Gaza. he voted for the $9.2 billion

in humanitarian assistance in the bill that is critical to help innocent civilians and is long overdue.”

a representative for senator Whitehouse’s office told The herald that the senator recently attended the Munich security Conference and discussed “steps toward a true and lasting peace in the Middle east” but did not comment on claims made at the rally.

Prior to the die-in, some Jewish speakers shared their experiences of navigating their religious identity in the midst of the Israel-Palestine war.

In his speech to the crowd, rally speaker Julian drix claimed that “Zionism has corrupted our Jewish identity and faith.”

It has “made us so intertwined with a violently colonial settler state, so that we can’t critique Israel without being called antisemitic or self-hating Jews,” he added. “Zionism uses our ancestors’ experience of oppression to justify

stealing Palestinian land and being oppressors.”

In the speech, drix called on the historical legacy of the holocaust in framing the current treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. “Gaza is often called an open-air prison,” he said. “but let’s be real — Israel is creating concentration camps. Israel is starving and depriving 2.3 million people of the basic essentials for life.”

Citing the vow “never again” used by Germany to remember and reflect on the holocaust, drix added that “‘never again’ doesn’t just mean ‘never again’ for us, but ‘never again’ by anyone, and especially ‘never again’ by us.”

demonstrators laid down on tarps that were sprawled out around the holocaust Memorial. Organizers encouraged participants to “honor the victims of the holocaust” and to “honor the victims of the ongoing Nakba.” The silent die-in lasted five minutes.

“The holocaust is not an abstract idea,” said drix in a separate interview with The her-

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ald. “It is very visceral — a story that I was raised with and understand in a very deeply personal way. so there’s no choice but solidarity, and I cannot comprehend people who twist it around the other way.”

“I will never forget what happened to the people during the holocaust,” said rally speaker sterk Zaza in her earlier statement to the crowd. “and I will never forget what is happening to the Palestinians right now.”

The rally closed with demonstrators gathering red, green and black balloons — representing the colors of the Palestinian flag — and congregating on the College street bridge. Organizers led the crowd, chanting “Free, Free Palestine” as demonstrators released balloons into the air.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 20, 2024.

Submissions: The Brown Daily Herald publishes submissions in the form of op-eds and letters to the

Op-eds are typically between 600 and 900 words and advance a clear argument related to a topic of campus discourse. You can submit op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Letters to the editor should be around 250 words and respond to an article or column that has appeared in The Herald, or critique or commend The Herald’s editorial decisions. You can submit letters to the editor to letters@browndailyherald.com.

Submissions undergo multiple rounds of editing. These rounds of editing generally take place over the course of one evening, and you may have to respond to edits late in the evening. If you know you will be unable to do so, please mention that in your email, and we will do our best to work with you.

Submissions can build on reporting from The Herald, reporting elsewhere, official statements from the University or other groups and other reputable sources, but they cannot break news or contain information that The Herald cannot verify. Because we cannot publish unsubstantiated information, failure to provide appropriate sources may mean we have to modify or remove unverified claims.

The Herald will not publish anonymous submissions or submissions authored by organizations. Leaders of student organizations can be identified as such but cannot write under the byline of their organization.

The Herald cannot publish all submissions it receives and reserves the right to edit all submissions. All submissions to The Herald cannot have been previously published elsewhere (in print or online — including personal blogs and social media) and must be

The gathering follows the Israeli military’s Feb. 12 operation in Rafah, where armed forces staged a raid to rescue two hostages, leaving 67 Palestinians dead.

Brown Jewish Journal creates new space for Jewish voices on campus

Publication to feature perspectives on Jewish culture, religion, politics

BY LEAH KORITZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In the coming months, students at b rown may notice a new publication on College h ill — the b rown Jewish Journal.

The journal, the brainchild of a riel

s tein ’24, describes itself as “a way to foster community and dialogue among b rown’s Jewish students.”

The journal is slated to publish for the first time in early March and will contain 11 articles from nine writers, according to s tein. The journal’s three editors — s tein, Teddy h orowitz ’24 and a ndrew r ovinsky ’25 — are yet to announce the publication’s frequency. In a sneak preview of the journal, h orowitz mentioned that the first issue will feature articles about a Jewish

deli, movies and “quite a few opinion pieces.”

“I realized, especially in light of recent events, that there wasn’t a platform at b rown for Jewish students to be in dialogue with each other and share their experiences and perspectives,” s tein said. “ s o I created the journal to fill that gap.”

h orowitz said the new publication aims to reflect the diversity of “ views and topics” among Jewish students on College h ill. “We cover politics.

We cover religion. We cover culture. r eally, (we cover) the joy and struggle of Jewish life, whatever that means to you,” he said.

a aron Perrotta ’27, the journal’s website director, wrote in a message to The h erald that he hopes the journal will “let different segments of the community learn from each other, given the wide variance in religious observance, political beliefs and so forth that all lie within the community.”

When seeking submissions for

their inaugural issue, the editors expected that most would be related to the ongoing Israel-Palestine war. b ut h orowitz was surprised that there were fewer articles addressing this topic than anticipated. “People are very excited to talk about other things as well, and I really loved that,” h orowitz said. “It seems like, right now, a lot of Jewish discourse is about antisemitism and Israel and Palestine, and there’s so much more to Judaism than just that.”

COurTesy OF eLL a GOOdMaN

The journal is slated to publish for the first time in early March and will contain 11 articles from nine writers, according to Ariel Stein ’24.

Schapira MFA’06, Ophir, Smulyan: Brown doesn’t need to hear from the ADL

brown’s Office of Institutional equity and d iversity recently announced plans to bring Jonathan Greenblatt, d irector of the anti-d efamation League, to speak on campus later today. This invitation shows a disregard for the brown community and for the safety of its Palestinian and Muslim members, as well as anti-Zionist or non-Zionist Jewish members. There is an urgent need to discuss racism against Muslim, arabs, Palestinians and Jews, but for many members of this community, the adL emblematizes this racism. aligning with the adL and Greenblatt specifically is part of the problem, not the answer.

Though the adL describes its mission as combating antisemitism, it has weaponized its platform in explicitly Zionist ways which deviate greatly from supporting Jewish safety. For example, a 2020 adL press release describes anti-Zionism and the “delegitimization of Israel” as antisemitism. by centering advocacy for Israel in its messaging, the adL denies Israeli apartheid and genocidal violence, also delegitimizing Jewish-led actions in solidarity with Palestine. In a press release from Oct. 25, 2023, the adL included general ceasefire activism—including many Jewish-led protests (like those we have seen on our own campus) — on its antisemitism database, making it impossible to discern the true number of hate crimes against Jewish people.

The adL’s purposeful mischaracterization

of antisemitism is entwined with its horrendous track record, shared by Greenblatt, of inciting anti-Palestinian and anti-arab racism. The organization’s history of racism has recently included peddling anti-Palestinian stereotypes, including re-

“

ti-Palestinian, anti-Jewish, anti-LGbTQIa+ action, suggests that the OIed is not truly committed to its mission of equity and inclusion when it comes to Jews and Palestinians. Greenblatt’s visit comes days after the us vetoed another uN secu -

There is an urgent need to discuss racism against Muslim, Arabs, Palestinians and Jews, but for many members of this community, the ADL emblematizes this racism.

“

peatedly debunked inflammatory claims; labeling students for Justice in Palestine as terrorists; and congratulating elon Musk on his efforts to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. While many of these actions come from the adL as a whole, Greenblatt in particular has been so extreme in his positions that he has faced criticism from his own staff. bringing such a speaker to campus, who represents an organization with patterns of anti-black, an -

rity Council demand for an immediate ceasefire, despite the ICJ ruling on ceasing “genocidal activities” and the opening of a second ICJ case judging the legality of the occupation.of Palestinian territories, as well as a planned ground invasion of rafah by Israeli troops. Jewish safety is not established by eroding or destroying Palestinian safety; this applies on brown’s campus and in the world at large. This is not just a question of conflicting po-

sitions, but of the effects of those positions.

a large contingent of the global scholarly community (particularly in Jewish studies and Palestine/Israel studies) has consistently disputed the adL and the similar International holocaust remembrance alliance definitions of antisemitism in recent years. an array of scholars have supported the Jerusalem d efinition of antisemitism, which takes a far more intellectual and politically-inclusive approach to assessing when criticism of the activities and structures of the state of Israel may stray into antisemitism.

Given that the adL has a noted history of racism and Islamophobia — particularly toward Palestinians and Jews — and does not take an academically rigorous view of antisemitism, we call on the OIed to remove any reference to this organization and its hateful position from its work after Greenblatt’s visit has taken place. We expect the OIed and the university to engage with scholars and resources who respect and honor Jewish traditions and are more fit to speak on antisemitism.

Kate Schapira MFA’06, Susan Smulyan and Adi M. Ophir can be reached at kate_schapira@brown.edu, susan_smulyan@brown.edu and adi_ophir@brown. edu, respectively. Please submit responses to this oped to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

For Jewish workers, divestment and organized labor go hand in hand

Editor’s Note: This op-ed was signed by multiple graduate students. The full list of signatories is presented at the end of this op-ed.

as Jewish graduate workers, we believe it is imperative that labor unions like the Graduate Labor Organization advocate for divestment from companies that participate in and profit from the genocide in Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian territory. Labor unions are inherently political organizations that represent the interests of their workers. as an anti-racist and feminist labor union, GLO should be committed to solidarity with oppressed peoples everywhere, and join the multiracial, international, popular solidarity movement with Palestine. GLO is right to stand alongside comrades in the labor movement like 1199seIu, the largest healthcare union in the country, the Chicago Teachers sunion, the Massachusetts Teachers association and many others that have called for a ceasefire, along with the Google and amazon workers who oppose Project Nimbus, a contract to provide technology to the Israeli military and government, which would be used “further surveillance of and unlawful data collection on Palestinians,” the workers wrote.

In 2021, grad workers at brown voted on a divestment referendum called by GLO’s Palestine solidarity Caucus. eighty-seven percent of GLO voters supported divesting the university’s endowment from companies complicit in human rights abuses in Palestine. unions like GLO are formed so that we, as workers, have a say in our workplace. We deserve to have a say on brown’s use of the wealth generated from our labor. and grad workers overwhelmingly say: d ivest.

It is especially important that we, Jewish

workers, raise our voices in solidarity with Palestinians. We join a living history of Jewish labor movements that have long insisted on the radical potential of living in diaspora, working in coalitions and organizing in opposition to state-based nationalism. We echo Jews for Ceasefire Now, who so beautifully articulated their Jewish identity as one rooted in solidarity instead of fear. as long as there has been Zionism, there has been anti-Zionism, realized in a diverse global movement of Jewish communities, activists, rabbis, students and scholars who reject the Zionist narrative of what it means to be Jewish. We uphold this integral spiritual and political work within the tradition that we love, and in direct opposition to the ways that we’ve seen Jewishness weaponized. This work guides our refusal of the university’s attempts to pit Jewish students and our safety against the safety and demands of our Palestinian and arab classmates and comrades.

tion. Our resistance to antisemitism, a racist and violent ideology, must be dedicated to undoing racial hierarchy, colonialism and white supremacy in their many shifting forms. We understand modern Zionism to be a part of such a racist ideology: a project that attempts to confine Jewish existence to a single nation-state by erasing our myriad histories of diaspora and dissent. The Zionist project perverts the protection of Jewish life into an instrument of oppression and colonialism.

We demand to be heard when we insist that the equation of Jewishness with unequivocal support for Israel, and the conflation of antisemitism with anti-Zionism, are fallacies that infringe upon

We deserve to have a say on Brown’s use of the wealth generated from our labor. And grad workers overwhelmingly say: Divest.

“ “

recently, we witnessed antisemitic threats at brown rIsd hillel that attest to the ongoing reality of antisemitism as a tool of terror and intimida-

our self-determination as Jews and our safety on this campus, in this country and in the world at large. d ivestment campaigns and coalitions are not antisemitic. We refuse to allow such accusations to be used as a smokescreen with which individuals and institutions can silence dissent and continue their active investment in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Jews in the united states have dynamic and

complex histories of racialization. We, a diverse group of Jews, continue to grapple with the privileges many american ashkenazi Jews attain through whiteness. d espite white supremacy’s inherent anti-Jewishness, we find that systemic efforts to set antisemitism apart from and over other forms of racism uphold and reproduce white supremacy. These efforts are clear when Jewish lives are valued over Palestinian lives.

adrienne rich writes, “We can’t wait to speak until we are perfectly clear and righteous. There is no purity and, in our lifetimes, no end to this process.” We know enough to speak out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, even if everything we have to say is imperfect.

The brown community has witnessed incredible acts of solidarity with Palestine, recently led by our brave undergraduate hunger strikers. as GLO joins the coalition for divestment at brown, we invite our co-workers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, to join us in calling for brown’s divestment from companies profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza — a call that should be taken up by all who stand in solidarity with the labor movement. brown’s divestment is possible and necessary: an actionable step towards the liberation of Palestine and oppressed peoples everywhere.

Signatories: Beckett Warzer MA’22 GS, Zohar Gitlis GS, Max Chervin Bridge GS, Jacob Sokolov MA’21 GS, Matthew Kateb Goldman GS, Emily Mitamura, Postdoctoral Fellow, Benjamin Rosenberg GS, Celia Stern GS, Jess Feldman MA’18 GS, Harley Elias GS, Lucy Onderwyzer Gold GS

ISSUE 3

Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

The sages of yore once said that the only certainties in this life are death, taxes, and that one week in the semester where you get a little (a lot) too few hours of sleep, ignore all your homework during the weekend, and start to fall desperately behind in all your classes. How funny that that week always seems to reveal itself after the S/NC deadline… Oh well, it’s roughly three hours and nine minutes too late to worry about that right now. This past weekend, I helped Gendo Taiko host over 280 taiko enthusiasts from as far as Japan for the first East Coast Taiko Conference in four years. Despite the dangerous academic space it put me in, I can say it was, without a doubt, worth all of the literal blood, sweat, and tears that went in. Without being dramatic, I would say that it was probably the pinnacle of my entire (three years) taiko-related life and one of the top three experiences of my time at Brown.

I don’t know if the sages have any quotes about taiko, but I think they ought to make one after this past weekend.

This week in post-, our writers are reflecting on a few of life’s other greatest constants. In Feature, the writer reflects on her Nigerian heritage and how it is reflected in the filmic canon of Nollywood. Meanwhile, in Narrative, both writers are looking to their families as one thinks about the mysteries of philosophy and how it informs her relationship with her dad, and the other remembers her grandmother’s cooking uniting everyone on Sunday evenings. In A&C, one writer looks at the ever-present monsterization of female puberty in the horror genre, and the other recounts how platonic love is captured by boygenius. Finally, in Lifestyle, one author looks at the world from the view of her pet gecko and our other writer thinks about that all-too-relatable feeling of having a campus crush. And of course it wouldn’t be post- without a fun mini crossword—this week’s theme, presidents! The constant in this case is that mutual excitement we all feel about having a long weekend—president-related or not.

As I try to return to a state of sleep homeostasis in these coming days, I am thinking about one more eternal truth. I heard that those same sages, in all their immortal wisdom, also said something along the lines of “you should drop everything that you are doing and read post-, or maybe just at your earliest convenience.” I don’t know if they’ve ever been proven wrong; you should probably read post- ASAP. Just passing along their advice.

Dozing at the desk,

Joe Maffa Editor-in-Chief

“Respectfully, I’d rather swallow glass than interact with someone like her.”

“I just want to drink milk from a goat’s udder.”

1 Not Dasani

2. Balloons

Waters

3. -ing holes (if u are a bison)

4. Slides

5. -fire

6. CIT 4th floor kitchen

7. -bear

8. H20

9. Iced (American)

10. -gate

7

“Even though I love spring the most, specific memories flit by like dragonflies over still water: unpredictable, shifting, dangerously close to falling out of the sky. I hold on to brief flashes.”

— Kyoko Leaman, “Spring Memories”

“Looking at those paintings, you can almost imagine that if you took a walk in them, you would eventually arrive at a blue world with blue houses, blue fields, blue sheep.”

—

Joyce Gao, “The Blue Hour” 2.23.23

A Precedent of Presidential Presence

by Lily Coffman

Across Red, Sp. 1

5

6 Shinbone

7

Last name of two early American presidents

Not masc

8 Down

1

2

3

4 5 2 1 5 8

Classic impromptu sleds on a college campus

Something low in a 1975 hit by the band

2010s president rumored to have a relationship with Harry Styles

Section Editors

Emily Tom

Ananya Mukerji

LIFESTYLE

Managing Editor

Tabitha Lynn

Section Editors

Jack Cobey

Daniella Coyle

HEAD ILLUSTRATORS

Stella Tsogtjargal

Junyue Ma

COPY CHIEF

Eleanor Peters

Copy Editors

Indigo Mudhbary

AJ Wu

Gabi Yuan

Dorrit Corwin

Liza Kolbasov

Gabi Yuan

Elena Jiang

Sofie Zeruto

Sarah Kim

Samiha Kazi

Aalia Jagwani

AJ Wu

Olivia Cohen

Ellie Jurmann

Sean Toomey

Sarah Frank

Emily Tom

Evan Gardner

Audrey Wijono

Jeanine Kim

Sydney Pearson

Samira Lakhiani

Cat Gao

Indigo Mudhbary

Will Hassett

Ayoola Fadahunsi

Joyce Gao

Eleanor Dushin

Malena Colon

Alaire Kanes

Want to be involved?

Email: joseph_maffa@brown.edu!

SPORTS

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Bears eclipse Penn in last-second women’s basketball thriller

Kyla

BY LYDELL DYER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On saturday evening, the women’s basketball team (14-9, 5-5 Ivy League) secured a 6159 win over the Penn Quakers (12-11, 4-6).

Coming into the contest, the bears and the Quakers were both tied for fourth place in the Ivy League — a crucial position, as only the top four teams move forward to March’s Ivy Madness tournament. brown’s victory knocked Penn down to fifth place and garnered the team sole possession of the final spot, with four games remaining in the regular season.

“every game is a really big game trying to make it to Ivy Madness,” head Coach Monique Leblanc said in an interview with The herald. “I think this game was really important today so that we didn’t have a head-to-head tiebreaker with Penn over us. but now we’re both going to keep clawing to get into that tournament.”

s aturday also marked a historic achievement for Ivy League Player of the Week, Kyla Jones ’24. entering the contest with 999 career points, it took her less than two minutes to cross the 1,000-point threshold, a feat met by only 22 other women in program history. Jones didn’t let her individual accomplishment slow her down, going on to drop a team-high 22 points.

“I was thinking (about hitting 1,000) a lot going into this game,” Jones said in an interview with The herald. “I was only one point away. but after I got that first basket

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY

… I just went with the flow of the game.”

For the bears, finding their flow meant scoring early. “One of our downfalls when we lost to Penn (two weeks ago was that) we didn’t get out to a good start in the first quarter,” Olivia young ’27 — who totaled 13 points, along with three rebounds and three steals in this saturday’s game — told The herald.

When the bears found themselves trailing by six points halfway through the first quarter, it was young who staged the comeback. after stealing the ball, she drove down the length of the court, sidestepping a defender beneath the rim to score her first points of the day. Less than a min-

ute later, she followed up from distance, hitting an open three. Now in gear, the bears rallied, and after a defensive stand, Isabella Mauricio ’25 connected to claim a 12-11 bruno lead.

but despite the 7-0 run, the bears were unable to maintain their advantage, entering the second quarter down 21-18. by halftime, they trailed 28-24.

“In the second quarter we played zone predominantly, and I thought we did a great job of slowing Penn down,” Leblanc said after the game. The bears held the Quakers to 2-18 from the field in the second quarter. but “at the same time, we were having a hard time scoring too.”

“We’re doing a great job defensively, we’ve slowed them down offensively,” Leblanc told the team during halftime. “Let’s stay patient. We don’t have to take bad shots … Let’s be committed to getting a good look and continuing to cut and pass.” Leblanc’s message hit home, with the team coming out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. Less than a minute into the quarter, back-to-back scores by Mauricio and Jones tied the game at 28-28. The rest of the quarter was a close affair, with both teams trading shots, but in the waning minutes, a clutch steal by young led to a Jones layup that claimed a 43-42 lead for the bears.

still, Penn’s offense was relentless and with two and a half minutes left in the fourth, the Quakers held a 57-51 advantage. In a high-pressure bout, the bears swiftly responded: Two quick buckets by Grace arnolie ’26 and Jones made it a one-possession game. With a minute left, ada anamekwe ’26 tied the game and forced a Penn timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the bears were able to rebound a missed Penn three point attempt, and the team capitalized, with Jones bodying a defender beneath the rim to claim a 59-57 lead. however, with only six seconds remaining in the game, Penn tied the score.

brown took its final time-out before gearing up for a final push. With the game on the line, the bears once more looked to Jones. as the last seconds on the clock ticked by, Jones stood outside the free throw line with the ball in hand. she then confronted her Penn defender at the key, faking inside before hitting a spin move and shooting. The 500-strong crowd rose to its feet as they watched the ball go in. With one second left in the game, Jones claimed the lead and secured the bruno victory.

“In moments like that, I (remind) myself that these are the types of shots that I can make,” Jones said after her game-winner. “I know that these are the moments that I excel in.”

The bears now look to solidify their playoff position against harvard next saturday in Cambridge, Ma . The 2 p.m. matchup will be streamed on esPN+.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb 20, 2024.

Women’s ice hockey drops games against Cornell, Colgate in weekend homestand

Brown fell 1-2 to Cornell in sudden death Friday night

BY GALEN GIBB CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This weekend, the women’s ice hockey team (11-15-3, 7-12-3 eCaC) played their final matches of the regular season, facing off against No. 6 Cornell (21-6-1, 16-5-0 eCaC) and No. 5 Colgate (27-6-1, 18-4-0 eCaC). bruno fell 1-2 to the big red in sudden death Friday night, then lost 0-6 to the raiders on saturday.

defensive resilience defined the twogame homestand, as each ranked opponent recorded more than double the number of shots on goal than brown did. These barrages of offense spurred bruno goalie Kaley doyle ’24 to a career performance against Cornell. she denied 50 of the 52 shots on goal — a .962 save percentage.

doyle credited her achievement to the forward line and the defense homogenizing into one unit. “This game was just blocking shots. I don’t think they got a chance to get the puck through a lot on the power plays,” she said.“I thought we did a really good job taking away their lanes. and even when I did get shots there, (my teammates) let me see them (to control) the rebounds.”

a fter guarding their way to a 0-0 scoreline in the first period, bruno found offensive footing in the second. With a 5-4 advantage at 9:56, defensive player Meadow Carman ’24 shot at the big red goal from the half ice. Forward ava decoste

Defensive resilience defined the two-game homestand, as each ranked opponent recorded more than double the number of shots on goal than Brown did.

’27 corralled the rebound off a ricochet in the congested lane and passed to anna Gallagher ’24 diving in from the right wing, who slotted the puck in the back of the net. This was Gallagher’s first goal of the season and decoste’s fourth assist in the past two weeks.

Cornell tried to even the score by infiltrating the home defense from the wings and being more physical, committing four penalties in 11 minutes during the second and third periods.

“I thought the physicality got a little out of control today on the side of our opponent, but I think we responded well.” said bruno head Coach Melanie ruzzi, “We played clean (but) we’re always ready to play physical (to) protect ourselves.”

The increased physicality resulted in more power plays for the home team — including a 5-on-3 late in the second period — but brown failed to convert on the advantage. at 14:25 in the third period, after more than 23 minutes of back-and-forth,

the big red launched the puck point-blank at the bruno goal to make the game 1-1.

Cornell reinforced this offensive pressure through overtime, which caused Jade Iginla ’26 to commit a crucial interference penalty that allowed a 4-3 skater advantage in favor of Cornell. Izzy daniel of the big red soon scored the game-winning goal to hand brown their eleventh loss against a ranked opponent this season. brown failed to recover their momentum against Colgate on saturday. The bears

committing zero penalties and doyle saving 34 shots on goal were not enough to stop five different skaters on the raiders to score in a lopsided 6-0 win, with three of those goals registered in the opening period.

The bears will play rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at home in the opening round of the eastern College athletic Conference next saturday.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb 20, 2024.

Jones ’24 scores game-winner for Bears, securing 61-59 win

The Bears’ last-minute win was secured by Kyla Jones ‘24, who achieved her thousandth career point earlier in the game.

SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Weekend Split: Men’s basketball goes 1-1 against Ivy League Rivals

Bears lose to Princeton but defeat Penn in Ivy play weekend

BY COOPER HERMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In a weekend defined by second-half efforts, the men’s basketball team (717, 3-6 Ivy) headed south to play Ivy League opponents Princeton (19-3, 7-2 Ivy) and Penn (9-15, 1-8 Ivy) on Friday and s aturday evening.

The b ears emerged hungry for revenge against Princeton, a team they fell to earlier this month at home. b ut despite a strenuous effort, the b ears came up short again. Friday night’s contest in New Jersey was a battle from the moment the teams stepped onto the hardwood, with both squads going on scoring runs and demonstrating defensive prowess.

Nana Owusu-anane ’25 led the bears on both sides of the floor, snagging any rebound in sight and then converting his defense into offense from behind the arc on the other end.

Owusu-anane’s offensive efforts were accompanied by point guard Kino Lilly Jr. ’25, who the b ears relied on to facilitate offensive sets.

a fter a tremendous first-half effort,

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

the b ears found themselves in a good position, up 30-25 against a well-rounded Princeton team that has only three losses on the season.

b ut in the second-half, the b ears struggled to stay afloat. Princeton returned with a reawakened aggression, attacking the brown defense and cleverly drawing fouls, which became an immediate issue for b runo.

The b ears shot just five free throws in the game compared to Princeton’s 31.

The Tigers also capitalized on the bears’ foul troubles, knocking down 26 of their 31 free throw attempts, which helped launch a 47-point half, sealing the win.

On s aturday, the b ears had a chance to redeem themselves. The bears took on Penn, a team that they had also previously faced earlier this month.

Lilly Jr. took over saturday’s contest, scoring at every level and distributing the ball to his teammates successfully. Lilly Jr. finished with 25 points — shooting a

perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line.

Per usual, Owusu-anane was the anchor for the b ears’ defense, but there was a new face who contributed in a big way s aturday.

behind Lilly Jr. in scoring was a J Lesburt ’25, who finished with 11 points, six rebounds and a steal, stepping up for b rown on s aturday. Prior to this weekend, Lesburt averaged just four minutes per game against Ivy League opponents; but on saturday, head Coach Mike Martin ’04 asked Lesburt to play a much bigger role for the b ears — and Lesburt did so tremendously well.

“Coach Martin always talks about staying ready and that’s something that resonates with me,” Lesburt wrote in a message to The herald. “I was ready to go when my number was called and was able to step up and help contribute,” he added.

The bears’ fast offensive pace helped them defeat the Quakers, outscoring them in both halves — 31-27 in the first and 40-37 in the second. b rown seemingly learned their lesson after a lackluster second-half defensively against Princeton. This time, they dominated the boards, limiting Penn’s second-chance opportunities.

“The key (to the win) was our overall defensive performance, specifically in how we defended the three-point line and our defensive rebounding (limiting

them to only six offensive rebounds). Our players executed it with great effort, communication, and discipline,” Martin wrote.

Following this weekend’s games, the b ears currently sit at sixth place in the Ivy League standings. To clinch a spot in Ivy Madness — the annual conference tournament that awards the winner with an automatic bid to the NC aa Tournament — b rown must finish the regular season in the top four teams in the conference.

The bears’ next games are all against Ivy League opponents, so there is little room for error if they hope to clinch a spot in the conference tournament in March. The bears’ next game is on Friday against Columbia at the Francis s. Levien Gymnasium in New york City.

“We will have to play better in every phase of the game than we did the first time around against Columbia,” Martin wrote.

“They were terrific with their offensive efficiency, their offensive rebounding, and in how they defended us. They are a very talented and well coached team, so we’ll need to have a great week of practice in preparation,” Martin added.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 20, 2024.

Women’s lacrosse takes home first ranked win in four years

the match, the bears were outshot and lost 21 of the 32 draw controls. This forced them to both stand strong defensively and be efficient on the attack.

BY DENNIS CAREY SPORTS EDITOR

The women’s lacrosse team (2-0) opened their season with wins against No. 22 university of Massachusetts (0-2) and university of albany (0-4) this weekend.

The saturday upset against the Minutewomen was a dazzling introduction by first-year head Coach Katrina dowd.

dowd, an already decorated coach and player, entered the program this summer and has seemingly already had a major impact on the bears, who before saturday hadn’t won a match against a ranked opponent since March 2020.

“We weren’t surprised by the result, but I’m just so happy and excited for them to start the year off with a big win against a ranked opponent — an NCaa tournament team,” d owd said. “It just shows their dedication and their hard work through the fall and in our preseason.”

“It’s been really fun to play under (coaches) Katrina, Gait and scotton. I think they have been great at making every player’s job straightforward … so we are able to excel,” wrote attacker Mia Mascone ’24 in an email to The herald.

“When everyone is doing their job, we all play better — scoring more goals, causing turnovers in the ride, assisting, etc.”

While d owd’s introduction already shows an improved bears team, this weekend’s upset could not have happened without stellar individual performances by the bears. Mascone found the back of the net five times during the game and assisted once, to notch six points total.

The game against uMass was all about bruno converting on their chances. across

The first quarter of saturday’s matchup was potentially the weakest for bruno, who were outshot 11-5 despite coming out of the period down only 5-3. Opening the game and the season like this was certainly not ideal for a bears team that had struggled so much against ranked opponents last season.

The defensive unit led by goaltender Claire Mahoney ’26 kept b runo in the game. she notched three of her eight saves during the match in the first quarter, denying the Minutewomen a much larger lead.

“some of the keys for resisting the uMass attack were trusting our defensive unit,” Mahoney wrote in a message to The herald. “Our unit spends a lot of time strategizing our approaches, and we were well prepared going into the game. since we were able to trust ourselves, our teammates and our preparation, it gave us success on saturday.”

bruno opened the scoring from a manup free position shot scored by midfielder Carly Camphausen ’24.5.

“When you’re playing hard and you’re playing aggressive and we have so many players who are a threat, you know, you might draw some fouls and end up on the free position,” dowd said.

The bears then added to their lead after a pass from attacker Natalie ahn ’24 found a charging Greta Criqui ’25, who scored but lost her stick in the process.

The bears slowed down after this play, trading points with the Minutewomen to make the score 3-1 before uMass went on a three-point run to take the quarter 4-3.

d espite their strength in the first quarter, the bears’ performance in the second was by far the most powerful of the match. bruno collectively outshot

the Minutewomen 9-2, and started a 6-0 run that began at 9:56 in the second and didn’t end until 12:41 in the third. The quarter ended with the bears outscoring the Minutewomen 5-1 and went into halftime with a 9-5 lead.

“(I)t was a full-team effort to give us great momentum,” Mahoney wrote. “From the draw team who fought for every ground ball, to our defense who came up with amazing caused turnovers, to the attack who buried the ball — all being cheered on by our energetic sideline — truly everyone was involved in every play of the game.”

From then on, the bears had to focus on mitigating and responding to the powerful opposition attack. both teams scrambled for a lead, with 16 goals between them in the second half.

bruno managed to remain in the lead during the third, tying uMass’s four goals with goals from Mascone, Camphausen and Maddie Joyce ’24.5.

entering the fourth, the bears scored once to up their lead before conceding three straight goals. When it looked like things might take a turn for the worst, Mascone turned it around, notching her fifth goal of the day to keep the bears on top by two points.

but bruno would only stay up for a moment before conceding two straight goals, tying the game at 14-14 with just 3:52 to play. but Criqui would come in only a minute and a half later to score the winner.

In the last 10 seconds of the game, the Minutewomen pushed up the field, forcing an incredible last-second save from Mahoney to save the game and earn the bears their first ranked upset in almost four years.

“a fter coming out of our timeout, the defense kept saying to each other, ‘nothing.’ When there is such little time

on the wwclock, you can fully empty out your tank and focus all your energy on stopping the last offensive drive. I kept on telling myself ‘nothing’ and ‘hold them off,’ which put me in a great position to save that last shot,” Mahoney wrote. “It was our unit’s belief in our abilities that allowed us to make the final stop.”

The bears rode the momentum from their win into the match against the university of albany on Tuesday. bruno blasted through the Great d anes in the first quarter, notching an early 5-2 lead from two goals from Julia Ford ’24, two from Mascone and one from Criqui.

The bears never fell behind the Great danes, and managed to force a staggering 13 turnovers over the course of the match.

after the crushing first quarter, the game morphed into a defensive affair for bruno. The second quarter was even between the two teams, with both notching two goals to keep the bears ahead at three.

“I can’t say enough good things about our defense. They really anchored that whole game. but yeah, we came out ready to play,” dowd said.

The bears looked to be in a little danger early in the third after conceding on back-to-back Great d ane attacks which brought the score to 8-6, but rallied to close the quarter out and extend their lead to 11-7 off of a 3-1 run at the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter was again split, with both teams notching three goals a piece, and the bears won the contest without ever falling behind.

“It is nice to start the season this way,” Mascone wrote. “I think the bigger takeaway was the feeling out there — just togetherness and fearlessness — more so than the win itself.”

bruno looks to continue their strong opening to the season on s aturday at home against sacred heart (0-2).

Following the weekend’s games, the Bears face additional conference rematches in order to secure a spot in next month’s Ivy Madness tournament.

Head Coach Dowd debuts with two wins against UMass, UAlbany

POLITICS

Community members react to McKee’s State of the State Address

Concerns over education, economy, budget increases remain

BY YAEL SARIG SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In Gov. dan McKee’s annual state of the state address last month, one goal stood out: his administration will seek to bring rhode Island up to the level of Massachusetts student achievement by 2030, echoing a target set last year.

according to McKee’s Jan. 16 speech, the administration will focus on improving three areas: rhode Island Comprehensive assessment system scores, student attendance and Free application for Federal student aid completion. as part of the effort, the state budget will propose a $15 million allocation for math and english Language arts coaching for students as well as professional development for teachers, McKee said.

The herald spoke with rhode Island community members about the goals voiced by McKee.

dana deMaire, site coordinator for hope high school with the Providence after school alliance, said greater investment in FaFsa is critical for high school students. The Providence Public school district currently hosts one FaFsa night for the entire district.

Increased investment in teachers is also crucial to prevent high turnover rates, according to Lisa hildebrand, executive director of the rhode Island association for the education of young Children. hildebrand’s organization is a nonprofit that supports early childhood educators through advocacy, professional development and direct work

with the state government.

The organization meets with the governor’s office each year to work on the state budget. This year, the number one priority was what hildebrand calls a “staffing crisis.” Just last year, teacher turnover hit new highs across several states. according to hildebrand, low wages lead to turnover, which in turn leads to closed classrooms and long waitlists for services like infant and toddler care.

“The waiting lists in some programs are years long, and that impacts that parent being able to go back into the workforce,” hildebrand said. “so it’s an economic issue.”

hope high school, a local public school, has also faced difficulties in retaining staff, according to deMarie. even within the administration, turnover is high, which can present problems when long-term projects are abandoned, she said.

“Last year we had an administrator who was navigating after-school tutoring for our youth,” deMaire said. The school no longer offers tutoring after the administrator left, she recalled.

The administration will allocate $3.8 million towards early Intervention, the full amount that the rhode Island Office of the health Insurance Commissioner recommended. rhode Island’s early Intervention Program offers a special home-based program of educational support and services for infants and toddlers experiencing a developmental delay or disability.

according to hildrebrand, the intervention program hosted a long waitlist during the pandemic — and matters haven’t improved much since. as of april 2022, around 400 children were placed on the list. short staffing and low wages have been linked to the limited availability of early Intervention,

the Globe reported.

different from other childcare services, early Intervention is covered by private insurance or Medicaid, so providers are directly reimbursed, according to hildebrand. In december, blue Cross increased reimbursement rates for early Intervention providers, writing that “our hope is that by increasing reimbursement rates sooner than later, we will help our provider and community partners to reduce wait times and increase staffing levels so that rhode Island’s most vulnerable residents receive the care they need.”

however, concerns remain regarding the long-term efficacy of these solutions: hildebrand said the state will need continued federal support through the Child Care development block Grant. This will be especially important given that President Joe biden’s original build back better plan — which hildebrand said would have “flooded the system with additional funds to be able to do everything that we needed to do” — didn’t pass.

although the McKee administration publicly stated their commitment to improved education last year, deMaire said she hasn’t seen “a huge shift” in the quality of education yet.

robert hackey, adjunct lecturer in international and public affairs, said that identifying “a more comprehensive approach to reforming education” is essential to meet McKee’s goal of the Ocean state being “comparable” to Massachusetts.

“There’s a lot more here than just some targeted investments,” he said.

hildebrand stated that the way to increase state investment in child care is by increasing state revenue. she said the association for the education of young Children

is advocating for a tax on the highest earners in the state that could be earmarked for the childcare system.

The issue of early education is so critical, hildebrand said, because it doesn’t just affect early childhood: the learning and developmental skills built in school help youth to become “fully functioning young children, and then young adults, and then adults.”

research has demonstrated that money invested into early childhood programs leads to direct economic gains for a variety of reasons, such as increased income for mothers able to return to the workforce earlier. some research has suggested that every dollar invested in early childhood programs can yield a return on investment of between $4 and $16.

The state of the state address also focused on other pressing issues affecting rhode Islanders, such as the cost of living and housing. McKee promised to “raise per capita income by a minimum of $20,000 by the year 2030.” he also cited his “over a quarter-billion-dollar investment in housing in 2022” as evidence of his commitment to creating more affordable housing.

rhode Island has had one of the lowest housing production rates in the united states for decades, a fact McKee said he intends to address. he said his new budget will call for the inclusion of a $100 million housing production bond on the ballot, which would be the largest of its kind in state history.

even though “100 million dollars is a lot of money, I don’t think it’s enough to really make a significant dent in the affordable housing issue,” hackey said.

McKee also promised to keep the state budget in check — an issue in years past.

“Our budget will make key investments

in education, small businesses and rhode Island’s health care system without raising any broad-based taxes,” McKee said.

hackey said the parameters set by the McKee administration — committing to a balanced budget but also keeping taxes stable — could be difficult to achieve simultaneously. In 2021, the state benefited from over a billion dollars in american rescue Plan act funding, but only around $90 million of that aid money remains.

McKee cited measures intended to boost state revenue and improve rhode Island’s business environment — rhode Island recently ranked as the worst state to start a business in by Wallethub, a drop from being ranked the fifth worst in 2023.

but hackey said some of these measures, such as reducing the corporate minimum tax from $400 to $350 or eliminating some filing fees, are only a small part of the larger solution

The state’s budget for transportation was also a point of concern from hackey. he said the ongoing disruptions to route I-195 will present short-term budgeting problems due to the cost of repairs, and the small increases in money allocated to rIPTa are nowhere near enough to address their deficit.

hackey said that he understands the state’s desire to remain within the budget, but that there are more effective ways to keep spending reasonable while making impactful change.

“I think the state is very reasonable in saying, ‘Look, we have to live within our means,’” he said. “For me, I would rather see us target a few areas and really go all-in as opposed to a more scattershot approach.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 20, 2024.

Blowing it out of the water: Offshore wind grows in the Ocean State

Efforts promoting offshore wind development began in 2007

BY MAYA KELLY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“Wind power holds exciting potential for (rhode Island’s) energy needs,” said former Gov. donald Carcieri ’65 in his 2007 state of the state address.

The offshore wind industry has grown considerably in the state of rhode Island since 2007, with several projects happening or slated to happen statewide. The herald recently spoke with stakeholders in the industry to construct a comprehensive overview of the Ocean state’s offshore wind ventures.

2007 marked the beginning of statewide efforts toward offshore wind development — a year when state officials and energy developers began identifying the industry as the “largest and strongest resource that we could potentially pursue,” said Chris Kearns, acting energy commissioner at the rhode Island Office of energy resources.

The waters off the coast of r.I. are considered the “saudi arabia of wind,” wrote Laura dwyer, information coordinator for rhode Island Coastal resources Management in an email to The herald, “which makes the area favorable for offshore wind farm development.”

between 2008 and 2010, the university of rhode Island and the Coastal resources Management Council created the rhode Island Ocean special area Management Plan, which aimed to “foster a properly functioning ecosystem that is both ecologically sound and economically benefi-

cial.” a significant portion of the plan focused on renewable energy in the form of offshore wind.

In 2013, the bureau of Ocean energy Management held the first federal offshore wind auction for the leasing of federal and state waters around rhode Island and Massachusetts. deepwater Wind — now a subsidiary of Ørsted — was selected to lease the area.

deepwater Wind began construction on this leased area in July 2015. The resulting block Island Wind Farm went online the next year, the first offshore wind farm in the united states.

In 2017, r.I. pursued a second offshore wind project, revolution Wind, through a state-sponsored request for proposal from Massachusetts. south Fork Wind, another Ørsted project, completed its first turbines in November 2023 but will deliver all of its power to New york.

revolution Wind, a 704-megawatt wind project developed by Ørsted and eversource, was approved for power purchase in early 2019 and is estimated to send 400 megawatts of power to rhode Island. Construction is scheduled to begin this spring, with operation slated for 2025. rhode Island and Massachusetts now host a variety of current and developing offshore wind projects, including Vineyard Wind, the block Island Wind Farm, south Coast Wind, revolution Wind and beacon Wind.

south Coast Wind, a joint development proposed by shell and Ocean Winds, is a $5 billion, 2,400 megawatt wind farm. The farm will be located 20 miles south of Nantucket and 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Portions of the project will run through Portsmouth following previous debates on the site.

after a heated four-hour public hearing in

January, the Portsmouth Town Council approved a host Community agreement that allows part of the south Coast Wind project to be dug through the town. The council would receive $23 million “for impacts and potential disruptions during construction,” according to the agreement.

In June 2023, the energy Facility siting board voted to pause all construction on the south Coast Wind project. according to south Coast, inflation increased construction costs to the point that agreements made in previous contracts would not provide a sufficient return on investment. south Coast Wind plans to rebid these contracts, but construction remains paused.

Gov. dan McKee’s 2025 “Team rhode Island” budget allocated $50 million to the “Green economy,” according to a press release. $20 million of this budget is slated to make improvements to the Port of davisville Infrastructure at Quonset which will allow the port to “accommodate offshore wind project components.”

Improvements on earlier efforts have allowed additional progress in Ørsted and eversource’s revolution Wind project. a joint venture between Ørsted and eversource, revolution Wind is the state’s next big wind project. The wind farm will be located 15 miles south of the rhode Island coast and become fully operational by 2025, according to their website.

Ørsted is “focusing its efforts in supporting the Northeast’s ambitious climate targets,” Meaghan Wims, a spokesperson for revolution Wind, wrote in an email to The herald, noting how “exciting” these climate targets are. Ørsted and eversource launched construction for their revolution Wind project on May 1, 2023. The project aims to bring enough energy to

power 350,000 homes.

“This is when the ‘excitement’ comes,” Kearns said, “once we start to see the projects under construction.”

according to Wims, rhode Islanders have been “overwhelmingly supportive of offshore wind,” adding that “skeptics need only look at the substantial environmental and economic impacts of rhode Island’s existing offshore wind projects” to understand the positive impacts of these ventures.

shaye rooney, co-executive director of the Commercial Fisheries Center, added that — along with energy and economic benefits — there are “certain opportunities that fishermen can take advantage of to benefit directly from this work,” including Vineyard Wind’s free safety training and captain’s courses.

but there are “safety concerns, environmental concerns (and) economic concerns,” about the project in the fishing industry, rooney said, adding that reactions from the fishing industry are “definitely more negative.”

she hopes working with offshore wind companies will allow them to “improve their process, their engagement and communications,” rooney said. she added that collaboration is “only going to help benefit the industry in the long term.”

These projects create hundreds of direct construction jobs and indirect supply chain jobs, Wims said. developers hope these opportunities will spur new economic activity at rhode Island’s ports.

but “one of the challenges with offshore wind is integrating it in a way that is compatible with other industries that utilize those waters,” Kearns said.

Concerns about the revolution Wind project include navigational hazards and threats to marine ecosystems, The herald previously reported. some have taken to legal means in order to stop offshore wind projects from moving forward.

“The pace should be a little bit slower before we build out all of these consecutive projects in this small area,” rooney said, noting that the ocean ecosystem is a “very delicate thing.” For rooney, r.I.’s priority needs to be on research “before we build everything out and then deal with the consequences.”

after everything the state has done to become a leader in this offshore wind “game,” r.I. is “poised to continue leading the clean energy revolution,” Wims added.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 20, 2024.

sITa PaWar / heraLd

‘Springtime is showtime’: student dance groups announce annual spring comebacks

BY REBECCA WENG SENIOR STAFF WRITER

For most brown students, the second semester on campus means spring Weekend, (hopefully) warmer weather and finishing up one more year of academics. For student dancers, spring brings increased rehearsal time, photoshoots, recordings and weeks of promoting their companies all over campus.

springtime is showtime, and there are plenty of performances to look forward to this semester.

Fusion Dance Company

Fusion dance Company, brown’s oldest student-run dance group which showcases mostly contemporary choreography, will have its 40th spring show on Feb. 24 and 25 at 7 p.m. in alumnae hall.

according to Company Manager Isabel Lukas ’24, the upcoming show will focus on “the theme Nebula to represent the creation of new things while holding onto our legacies,” she said.

Fusion’s spring show will feature 20 pieces in total, with 18 newly choreographed dances, one bringback dance staged by the new members and one alumni-choreographed dance. The performance will also feature a collaboration with campus hip-hop dance group IMPuLse, organized by Fusion member and IMPuLse’s Co-director aziza alfred ’25.

The main challenges Fusion faced during its preparation process were synchronizing choreography with members who studied abroad in the fall and finishing rehearsals without dance camp. “still, I’m amazed at how little work I had to do since everyone is organized, and a lot of dance groups gave us rehearsal spaces since they understand that we’re the first show,” Lukas said.

Fusion’s performance will be followed by two shows from the IMPuLse dance company on March 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. in alumnae auditorium.

Mezcla

Mezcla is a brown-rIsd Latin dance group highlighting a wide variety of styles, from traditional folkloric dances like Mexican folklore and Peruvian dances to new jazz and hip-hop choreography. The group is holding its spring performance on March 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. in alumnae hall.

ana Perez ’24, co-director of the company, described the new show as an accumulation of all the group’s growth. “We can’t reveal our theme yet but keep an eye out for it the sunday before the show,” Perez said. The group will perform 17 pieces, including fully integrated collaborations with Oja and badmaash.

“I’m a senior so it’s been very emotional to perform our last show. We’ve seen the group grow so much since my sophomore year,” Perez added. after the performance, the group plans to dance at on-campus Latinx events.

Attitude Dance Company attitude, a multi-style, self-choreographed dance group, will perform on april 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. in alumnae hall. according to attitude’s Co-director emma berman ’24, the company can perform “anything the dancers choreograph.”

since the student activities Office no longer allows exceptions to their university breaks policy, attitude’s dancers were

not able to have dance camp this year and have been holding extra weekend rehearsals, which berman described as “tiring, but rewarding.”

after the show, attitude members hope to try different styles as a company and work on their techniques. They will try to host as many open workshops as possible on Tuesday nights from 9-10 p.m. in the ashamu dance studio.

Daebak

K-pop dance group daebak will host its spring show at salomon deCI hall on april 5 and 6. “This performance is slightly different,” said Co-director Camille Zhang ’24. The group will collaborate with other dance groups, including IMPuLse, east asian dance group Moli and step group divine rhythm.

“People often see K-pop as a limited style, yet even within the K-pop industry there are many different styles,” Zhang said. “so, we want to show ourselves more as a dance group rather than strictly a K-pop group.”

daebak is currently hosting a dance camp to allow non-members to participate in their show. around 70 non-members have signed up and are currently getting ready to perform.

“everything from the very start is for the spring show,” Co-director Michael Jia ’25 said. The group prepared 40 dance pieces across both show days. “It is a bit stressful, but it is great to see people evolve and have fun while practicing,” he said.

after the performance, the co-directors plan to make dance covers to upload on their youTube channel. They also want to host more community-wide social events.

Oja Modern African Dance Company

Oja, brown’s Modern african dance Company, will perform its spring show on april 13 at 7 p.m. in the rIsd auditorium. Company Co-director Jenee anekwe ’24 is excited to present more african dance styles. “before, our dance style was primarily West african, but now we’ve got a lot more south african dance, Congolese dance style, Caribbean dance style and even some hip-hop elements,” anekwe said.

The show will feature over 15 dances, but

the details of its theme and collaborations are yet to be released.

as a senior, this is my ‘last rock’ kind of thing. It’s amazing to see that we made it to the same level we have with less university support now,” anekwe said.

after the show, Oja will hold at least one workshop and will also perform off-campus.

Abhinaya

abhinaya is brown’s south asian classical dance team. The group performs ancient traditional styles including bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi and Kathak. The dance group will have its spring show, “7 deadly sins,” on april 13 in salomon deCI.

“For most south asian classical dancers, these have been art forms they have trained in since early childhood, so it’s important to many of us to have a community on campus that shares a love and passion for it,” said Team Captain Neil shah ’25.

after the “7 deadly sins,” abhinaya plans to collaborate with brown badmaash and perform at their spring show.

Tempo

Tempo is a dance group without a set genre. “We have many split styles with Caribbean influences, hip-hop, heels and sexy jazz,” said Nick Li ’25, the group’s co-director. On april 19, Tempo will host its spring show in alumnae hall.

The performance will feature at least 30 pieces, each being 2-3 minutes long. The group has been busy choreographing with other companies. “We’re currently doing a dance with IMPuLse, as many dancers are in both,” Li said. Tempo will also collaborate with Moli.

“This is my first year co-directing and it’s been a big change,” Li added. “but putting on a show is a feeling you’ll never experience anywhere else.”

Tempo plans to host another round of spring auditions after the show and more informal workshops for members of the brown community.

Synergy Dance Company

synergy dance Company, the multi-style dance group founded in fall 2022, will perform in the Movement Lab in Lindeman

Performing arts Center on april 19 and 20.

Company Co-founder Isabella delionado ’26 described the show as a “general exploration of choreography where members can do everything they have in mind.”

The company currently has around 10 completed pieces. They will perform three ballet pieces choreographed by delionado herself, a jazz choreography by the company’s Co-founder Chidi Olewuenyi ’26 and a contemporary piece. Though synergy has not finalized all of its dances, the co-founders are trying to balance between styles.

despite the challenges in scheduling a rehearsal space, delionado is excited about the group’s first spring show. “since I’ve only done solos and never a group ballet dance, I’m excited about exploring a larger ballet dance choreography,” she said.

Divine Rhythm

divine rhythm is brown’s only step team on campus. “Our dance form is rooted in black culture and the pride of being black,” said Co-captain angela snider ’24.

The group will hold its spring show on april 28 at alumnae hall. Currently, the dance group is working on over 20 pieces of original choreography.

“We’re also so excited to collaborate with daebak and we will also be performing at their show on april 6,” snider said. The group will perform two pop songs at daebak’s show: “Crazy Form” by ateez and “L aL aL aL a” by stray Kids.

“It’s exciting because the Crazy Form has a lot of black influence, and LaL aL aL a has beats influenced by afro culture,” she explained.

The group has doubled its membership recently. “I’m looking forward to working with new members,” snider said. “It’s always great to see them so excited to learn the moves.”

after the show, the group will hold auditions for people who want to join next fall. “We will also watch the (recording of the) show and have a good laugh at small mess-ups,” she said.

Badmaash

brown badmaash is brown’s south asian fusion dance team. according to executive

board member Neil shah ’25, the group combines popular classical and folk styles from south asia, such as bollywood, bhangra and Garba, with Western styles like hip-hop and contemporary.

The group will hold its next performance on May 4 in alumnae hall, with collaborative performances at Mezcla Latin dance and brown abhinaya’s spring shows.

badmaash has already completed four pieces and will be putting together at least 10 more for their show, shah said. This year, in particular, basmaash is placing a strong emphasis on excitement, emotions and nostalgia in their dances.

“One of the best aspects about being a cultural fusion team is people get to bring their own cultural backgrounds and artistic visions to practice,” shah added.

badmaash is hoping to host auditions at the end of the semester.

Brown Ballet Company

brown ballet Company, founded in the fall of 2022, is an entirely ballet-focused group, performing a variety of classical, neoclassical and contemporary styles. The company will have its first live spring performance at the end of the semester.

according to Co-directors Claudia spelman ’24, sydney Leson Gs and herald writer elise haulund ’27, the performance will have two separate acts. act I is an original ballet set to Gustav holst’s “The Planets.” act II will consist of student choreography and restagings of excerpts from famous classical ballets. The show will also include a piece performed by members of the company’s weekly intermediate class.

The co-directors allocated a lot of time and effort toward logistical organization and communication for the upcoming rehearsals.

“Finding studio spaces on campus that are safe for ballet, like Marley floors and ballet barres, as a newer organization is always a challenge,” spelman said.

after the spring show, brown ballet will devote their time to planning their upcoming fall production of the “Nutcracker.” Additional reporting by Cavan Agatone

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on February 16, 2024.

Student dance leaders discuss show preparations, collaborations, challenges

nities for students in both schools,” dr. Kelvin roldán, deputy commissioner for system transformation at rIde, said at the meeting.

a ccording to the panel, factors in the decision included a lack of advanced Placement opportunities, the school’s 16.2% dropout and 75% graduation rate, 1.5% math and 8.2% english proficiency scores. Currently, 360 and JseC have similar proficiency, dropout and graduation rates — both below the district average and well below the district’s goals.

budget concerns also factored into the decision to merge the two schools, which could save the district $1.9 million, according to the panel. “running small schools, while there are certainly wonderful aspects … also (comes) with significant costs,” PPsd deputy superintendent of Operations Zachary scott said at the meeting.

“With the expiration of federal funds and flat funding from the City of Providence, the district is facing considerable financial challenges that will result in difficult decisions,” Wegimont wrote in an email to The herald.

360 high school has a lower teacher-to-student ratio than other schools in the district, which makes it more expensive to operate, the panel added. “Financially, every one student is a considerable financial weight” said the superintendent’s Chief of staff scott sutherland.

The two schools being merged, which currently share a campus, are the district’s smallest high schools. The high school at JseC has been under a mandatory redesign effort aiming to turn it into a specialty life sciences academy. according to letters from rIde Commissioner angélica Infante-Green, “schools that have been identified for Comprehensive support and Improvement for four years must undergo a school redesign process.”

360 was not selected for redesign because it was not identified for CsI until 2019, according to ellen Foley, a sTeM Learning Facilitator at 360 and former associate director of the annenberg Institute.

Foley added that 360 is not anticipated to improve in the proficiency test happening this april, which determines whether a school is identified for CsI, another factor in its closure.

How the decision was made

Professional development work throughout the fall focused on ways to improve 360, according to the Feb. 15 pan-

el members. New accountability metrics reviewed by the district in January and information about the looming budget deficit immediately preceded the recommendation to close the school.

“PPsd leadership closely reviewed 360’s performance data and made a recommendation for the merger to the Commissioner of education,” Wegimont wrote in an email to The herald. Infante-Green “had the authority to effectuate the merger under the Crowley act, which governs state interventions like the one in Providence,” Wegimont added.

at the Feb. 15 meeting, the panel assured community members that 360’s school principal was included in discussions about the need to improve the school’s performance. but members of the 360 community responded that they were never directly told closure was a possibility.

“There was no communication from PPsd that our school was even at risk of being closed,” said Christian Martinez, a PPsd alum and math learning facilitator at 360, at the Feb. 15 meeting. several other community members made similar claims.

The school board made it clear that they were not consulted before the decision to close 360 high school was made. “I found out about 360 by reading about it in the boston Globe,” said George Matouk, a school board member, at the Feb. 15 board meeting. “I think that says a lot about some of the dysfunction that’s going on in the process of making important strategic decisions.”

Wegimont wrote that “this decision considers the needs and wellbeing of the entire district and aims to expand access to educational offerings for students,” and is more financially feasible than expanding educational options at both schools.

Community backlash

On Feb. 14, organizers from the r .I. chapter of the Party for socialism and Liberation led a rally to “Take back Our schools” and stop the closure of 360.

“The 360 struggle felt like (a) sign that people weren’t going to take this sitting down,” said Maya Leher MaT ’23, a PPsd teacher and organizer with PsL. “It was time to use it to galvanize a larger movement around the schools.”

In a speech at the rally, Providence student union Co-director of the Leadership Team dexter Vincent noted that 360’s closure follows a broader pattern in the district of pushing for larger schools.

“They are sacrificing the education of tens of thousands of students just to bal-

ance the budget,” he said. “Larger schools may be cheaper to operate, but they are directly contrary to improving this city’s education standard.”

To Leher, the merger comes at a time of growing displeasure with district administration. “No one in the district has taken accountability for the reasons that … students are fleeing the district, nor the reason that teachers have been leaving the district in droves,” Leher said, noting that the number of teachers in the district has decreased by “a couple of percentage points.” some teachers at 360 disputed the accuracy of the proficiency and graduation rate data that district leaders said prompted the closure decision.

The calculation of math and english proficiency rates is based on saT scores, said Foley and rebecca dalum ’22, Math Learning Facilitator at 360. The saT is not translated into other languages, which they say negatively affects 360 — a school where 48.1% of students are multilingual learners, compared to 12.5% statewide.

Foley also noted that students with Individualized educational Plans who go into transitional services until they are 21 are not counted as graduates. “We encourage them to go to transition services because it’s support that they might need on the path to being a productive citizen,” said Foley. but “even a few of those students can make a big impact on the graduation rate.”

Foley, whose background is in education reform research, stated that 360 has many factors that indicate future academic excellence — student engagement, staff stability and trust. “What underlies all of it really is trust in (the) school,” said Foley.

School board response

Over 200 community members attended the PPsd school board meeting on Feb. 15. at least 100 individuals were told by PPsd officials to remain in a basement overflow room and watched the meeting via a youTube livestream projected on big screens. after about two hours, a community member urged those in the basement to move upstairs, at which point the police were called due to capacity issues.

“It seems like community participation isn’t necessarily welcome in the space. and the fact that they called the police … (was) so very undemocratic,” said breana alcantara ’27, a co-lead of see’s redistribution team.

Teachers, students, alumni, parents, activists and local politicians testified to

360’s importance.

“I didn’t think that I would make it past my 18th birthday, but now I feel like I can succeed in any career path that I choose,” said Nicole McClelland, a 360 senior, in a comment to the board. “If you choose to close 360, not only will you be closing a school, you’ll be closing a safe space, a home, a family.”

“Our students are celebrated members of our community because of the culture built by our administrators, Principal Kerry Tuttlebee and assistant Principal richlieu Norris,” said andrew Cormier, a special education teacher at 360, in a comment to the board. “The unexpected closure of 360 high school feels like another callous example … of those with disabilities being an afterthought.”

The school board also expressed displeasure and confusion over the decision.

“What I’m hearing is that, just like us school board members, the community at 360 doesn’t feel like they knew about this until it was happening to them,” said new board member Melissa hughes at the Feb. 15 meeting. hughes noted that community engagement is a central pillar of the district’s Turnaround action Plan.

“I agree and understand that we are facing some catastrophic budget issues,” she added. “but we have to do better about engaging folks along the way,” hughes added.

The board also expressed frustration with the district’s rhetoric around the decision. “When something like this happens and a decision is made to close a school and the people who make the decision insist on using the word ‘merge,’ it makes it all worse,” said Matouk in a comment at the Feb. 15 meeting. “There is nothing … that has convinced any of us that this is a merger. 360 is being closed.”

Moving forward

Wegimont stressed that the decision is intended to increase opportunities for students.

“The merger will enable 360 students to have greater access to electives, (Career and Technical education) pathways, sports, student activities and a whole new set of theme-specific experiences that faculty and staff are currently designing with a focus on in-demand, high-wage industries,” he wrote.

The PPsd is “still at the early stages of the redesign process, so we thought it was an easier way to fold 360 in,” sutherland said. Current 360 students will have guaranteed spots in the newly merged life

sciences program and the option to fill out a preference form expressing their interest in other high schools. They will not have guaranteed priority admission to other schools, according to the rIde panel.

For teachers and staff at 360, openings at JseC are still to be determined. 360 staff will not be given priority for employment at JseC over other in-district displaced teachers, according to the rIde panel. Positions at schools throughout the district will be open to internally displaced applicants before they are posted to nonPPsd teachers, per the Providence Teachers union contract.

“The number of total staff members that will be at the Juanita sanchez Life Institute will depend on overall programming which is being refined currently,” wrote Wegimont. “students themselves will be surveyed to help shape program offerings and that will guide overall staff capacity needed.” he added that teams from the PPsd Office of human resources will support staff through the hiring process.

While suchite is not planning on giving up in the fight to keep 360 open, she said she hopes that the staff is retained if the decision goes through. “I feel like they could definitely keep the teachers, as they would leave a part of 360 there,” said suchite.

The district has decided that the current JseC principal, ariana Testa, will remain principal after the schools merge. representative david Morales shared plans to re-introduce legislation requiring “a public process in place before a decision (to close a school) is ever finalized” in a comment at the Feb. 15 meeting. “The decision to close a school is a sensitive one that requires community dialogue,” he noted, adding that no such dialogue has occurred.

In an interview with The herald, Vincent noted that he does not think the closure decision has to be final. In 2007, when the district attempted to demolish Nathan bishop Middle school, “community backlash was strong enough there that they decided to renovate the school,” he said.

“The 360 students are so heavily organizing because they are such a tight-knit community,” said Leher. Foley noted that the community plans to keep organizing and rallying around the Feb. 27 state school board meeting.

“360 is like a family and people are wanting to fight for it,” Lindstrom Peralta said. “If we somehow end up winning this battle and stay open, I feel like, God, it would make us stronger than ever.”

360 FROM PAGE 1

Maya WadhWaNI / heraLd

The decision to merge 360 with JSEC is final, according to Jay Wegimont, a spokesperson for the PPSD.